Need help picking a bird

[azurejet]

Hi all! I hope this is the right place for this, if not I apologize.

I currently own 1 American budgie and he is great, I've had a budgie (though not this particular one) for the better part of my life. And I am very pleased with him. But I do want another bird that is more personable for my wife. She agreed to get our budgie because she wanted a bird to love on, and since I had owned so many I never thought to tell her that they don't particularly like human hands and she never thought to tell me the reason she wanted a bird. So we both had a miscommunication, but still love our budgie. The problem is this: what is a good bird for just hanging out/handling?

I've read cockatiels are great but don't particularly like to be "handled" and aren't as cuddly as others, plus they're dusty. But I've read GCC are very nippy and can be moody. I don't want a bird that is prone to actual painful biting. How bad does the bite from either bird hurt? So far that's all I've got, either a cockatiel or a GCC, plus, I'd like to stay kind of in that price range. Where I live tiels go for about $150, and GCC are just about $300.

Is there anything else I should consider? What are you thoughts on my next companion? (Btw time isn't really an issue, when I get home late afternoon, I let my budgie out usually for the remainder of the night so the new bird will get plenty of human time though not with the budgie)

[Wolf]

I saw this post much earlier, but since I don't tell people what they want I was not sure of what to say and was really hoping that some of the other members would chime in here with some of their experiences with their birds to help you come to a decision on a few birds to choose from.
When I checked back and saw that no one had replied yet, I thought that I would at least try to help . I am curious as to why you would choose to have parrots when as far as I am aware of all of them bite now and then. Some of them may go through a nippy stage but by and large if we are bitten by our birds it is our fault and not the birds. Parrots are not domesticated animals and still retain all of the same drives and instincts as their counterparts still living wild and free. Although they are highly social creatures, intelligent, sentient and basically non aggressive they still do bite.
I have run across this page that you might find useful in starting a listing of possible species of parrots http://www.all-pet-birds.com/parrot-cha ... stics.html I hope that this will help.

[azurejet]

Thank you for the reply!

As for why I want a parrot: I generally don't have a problem with nippy birds. And from what I hear tiels don't nip hard or often and GCCs are usually just going through a phase or molt and are moody when they are known to nip. I just don't want to get a bird that might nip/bite on the regular or so badly that my wife won't want to interact with it. That is why I asked how bad a bite from a GCC is.

Either way I'm super excited about owning another bird. I'd have 20 if I had the time in the day for all of them.

[Wolf]

Well, budgies don't bite all that hard, cockatiels, I can't say as I have never been around them. Love birds, I also cant say anything about how hard they bite, but I would assume that it is along the same level as a parrotlet and for such a small bird they can bite hard. Parrotlets don't often draw blood when they bite, but for some reason their bite is fairly painful and you really don't want to have to endure it for long.
From this level I have a Senegal and would estimate that other species of parrots of a similar size would bite about as hard and my Senegal takes little chunks of flesh every time that she bites. My Grey is a much larger bird and is probably the gentlest bird that I have and she can lay a hurt on you although the Senegals bite hurts more. My Grey is more prone to move my finger than to bite it, but I am her chosen and she doesn't let any one else touch her. I Also have an Amazon and I'll just say that you don't want her to bite you. That tells you all I know about the severity of a single bite from several sized birds and any larger than these I have no experience with but you are getting into a bite that even if just a polite nip can send you for stitches.
Now we have to change the approach to this issue as I have only addressed the severity of a bite and said nothing else of importance and the rest is much more important than the severity. Except for just a couple of occasions in the birds entire life if you get bitten then it is entirely your fault and not the birds.
Baby birds go through a period of beaking which looks like biting and on occasion does turn into a bite as the bird is exploring the world around it , taste, texture firmness and such and once in a while it will use too much pressure and you have to teach it that it needs to be gentle. Although everything that is done to the bird from hatching to puberty will go into shaping its personality, you never know what that personality will be until after puberty has passed.
Puberty comes at different times in the lives of the different species of parrots ranging from one to five years of age for its onset. It is a very difficult time for the bird as it experiences the full onslaught of sexual hormones for the first time in its life and it also releases its bond with its parents so that it can choose a mate to bond with. You can't hold hormonal biting against a bird as it is not in control of itself at this time and it also undergoes a change in personality at this time and no longer thinks like a baby bird, it thinks as an adult bird and that is a huge difference.
From this point on we enter the world of the adult parrot. These are not domesticated birds they are wild birds living in captivity with all the drives and instincts of a wild bird. They unfortunately were not taught the same things as a wild bird would have taught them and this does make for some problems that you do not see in the wild populations. Parrots are not naturally aggressive creatures as their normal answer to aggressive behavior is to leave and have nothing to do with it. They can't do this in captivity and have no choice but to respond in kind which means biting, but this is their final recourse to unwanted behaviors. Everything is kind of up in the air at this point because the severity as well as the frequency of a bird biting is entirely in the hands of the humans that the bird is surrounded by.
Now you know just about everything about parrot biting that I know from my perspective. I hope that this is useful to you.

[shiraartain]

Cockatiel is better for you.Honestly, in my opinion, cockatiels are the closest thing to a parrot which is suited to a domestic setting. GCCs do bite, mine bites my sisters and has drawn blood on them. The only time I recall my tiel biting is when he found a dark corner he liked and I tried to get him to leave it. He was a doll, and our family still misses him dearly (had to give him away BC sister developed allergies).

Anyways, go for a tiel! Each bird has their own personity, but mine LOVED to be petted, was also fascinated by plastic bags and enjoyed walking around on them.

Visited a friend's pair of tiels recently and while the female doesn't like to be handled, the male stepped up and asked me for pets. Then would become irritated and peck my finger when he wanted me to stop....and then ask for pets again a few minutes later. The pecks weren't painful, they were just a quick bit of pressure as a way of saying "stop".

FINALLY, I recommend you adopt a tiel! I also reside in Michigan and was sold an unweaned baby (Don't go to Discount Pet, horrible practices). Adopting will allow you to see the bird's personality beforehand and find one which chooses you, instead of a baby whose personality will change later. There are plenty looking for homes on Craigslist and the like.

[Pajarita]

It's as Wolf said, whether a parrot bites or not is up to the people who live with the parrot because all species of parrot bite but none is an inherent biter. The difference between a biting and a non-biting parrots is husbandry. Period. Let us know if you need us to elaborate on this and we will.

Now, small species don't bite as hard as the larger ones but, then, smaller species are not usually as cuddly as some (not even all) the larger ones. Ohhh, people tell you their plet, lovie, tiel, etc is, most definitely, a cuddler but you will find that most of these birds are young. Once they become sexually mature and years go by, they become more impatient and aloof and you will see lots and lots of postings asking why is their loving little bird now biting, screaming, flying away from them or plucking. And the answer is that these are all aviary and not companion species. Now, I am sure there are exceptions but one cannot choose a species based on the few and far in between exceptions one might find, right?

Now, for the species that are companion (deeply imprinted to humans) and are cuddly... First thing you need to understand is that cuddly = needy and that means A LOT of hours with the bird on you. In my personal experience, the cuddliest are the cockatoos and the GCCs. Now, the cockatoos are fabulous birds BUT they are big birds and that means a big-ass bird hanging of your neck for hours and hours every single day -not something that most people can put up with for 30 or 40 years. It also means that they have very big and powerful beaks and this means that even when they don't bite you, they can hurt you. My Freddie (Lesser Sulfur) would never, ever, ever bite me no matter what I do to or with him but he uses his beak to hold on to things and, if this 'thing' happens to be your arm, you end up with a good black and blue on it. Same with his claws, if he feels insecure and grabs your hand real hard, you end up with little holes in it. The other problem is that when they are mate-bonded to you, they will 'warn' you of what they perceive as danger or competition to their relationship with you by nipping you. They don't mean it as aggression, it's a natural behavior they use in the wild but they do it to another bird which is covered by thick plumage so the hard nip doesn't hurt at all while, we, humans, are terribly inadequate and naked birds and can get hurt too easily. They are also TERRIBLY destructive and LOUD LOUD LOUD! A couple of months ago he made a flock call while on my shoulder and I could actually feel my brain vibrating inside my skull - that's how powerful their vocalizations are. He was given up because he was a screamer (his owners worked outside the house during the day so he screamed and screamed all day long) and it took me ten months to break him out of it -and that's another problem with toos that are not paid enough attention, as well as plucking and even self-mutilating. There is a good reason why toos are the number one given up bird...

Now, people will tell you that GCCs are moody and nippy but, in my personal experience, this is simply not true. I've taken in four of them, all given up because of biting, but out of the four, only one was really bitey and it was a male that had been abused and severely neglected. The other three became sweet-tempered in a matter of a few weeks because the only problem they had was inadequate husbandry. I rehomed three of the four because this is a species that takes up A LOT of one-on-one and I simply did not have the time for them (I care for a lot of animals and I am always spreading myself thin as it is). The fourth one I still have. Her name is Codee and she is the sweetest, sweetest thing! She never screams, comes running when I call her so she can jump on my arm, quickly climbs up to my shoulder and kisses me on the cheek (she also kisses me -puts her beak on my cheek and goes SMACK SMACK SMACK - when I kiss her head or tell her I love her) and never, ever, ever bites. So much so that she is one of the few birds that I trust with my grandkids! BUT this is a bird that lives cage-free, is kept at a strict solar schedule, is fed a good fresh food diet with low protein, has a mate of her own for 24/7/365 company and spends a solid two hours on me every single day! And that is what I meant by husbandry been the key to a non-biting parrot.

I don't know if I answered your question to your satisfaction but, please, let me know if you have any questions or doubts or need any clarification.

[Parrotkeeper02]

I recommend u get a cockatiel they are great to have around and they are the most affectionate parrot I've had over the years.They are also very tamable if you start with a young bird.

[liz]

I recommend u get a cockatiel they are great to have around and they are the most affectionate parrot I've had over the years.They are also very tamable if you start with a young bird.

I agree with you. But a rescue bird may also be ready to bond with you. I have rescues. They all have different personalities and are like a day care center for kids.

Now about the bite. This is also bird personality and human interaction. You can cause a bird to bite also. I was stroking a Macaw beak when a Cockatoo screamed. The Macaw got scared and bit the closest thing to him. It was my finger. There was blood but it didn't really hurt. He said he was sorry. I had a Cockatiel named Rosie who bit me any time I got within her reach. I nick named her Pit Bull because of the way she bit. She would chomp down then shake her head trying to get a chunk.
Cockatiels are all round the sweetest of parrots. Mine sing so pretty and make happy noise. Mine are all rescues with different personalities. About half have forgiven me for what it's last human did to it.
Read the threads from Cockatiel owners.

[ParrotsForLife]

Wow $150 for a cockatiel where i live they are €25-€75 my two were €45 each

[ParrotsForLife]

My two also love being handled cockatiels are friendly birds.